Traumafessions :: Adam of DVD Panache on Freddie’s Nightmares: Do You Know Where Your Children Are?

For me as a kid, scarier than a machete-wielding stalker or malicious aliens were the monsters that allegedly had my best interests in mind: my parents. They weren’t bad parents, but thanks to a few movies and television shows I was convinced that some day they could turn out to be evil. The nightmarish parental vision that stayed with me the most was on an episode of FREDDIE’S NIGHTMARES that I caught one night while battling insomnia. “Do You Know Where Your Kids Are?” (1989) concerns a babysitter named Lisa at a seemingly ordinary house with someone very strange in the basement. You see, the family’s daughter murdered the mother, and rather than letting the girl rot in jail they simply imprisoned her below the house, with the dumbwaiter serving asher source of nourishment. The parents see nothing wrong with this arrangement, even though occasional screams escape from the basement during the Lisa’s stay. Through strange circumstances, Lisa is lured to the basement and imprisoned while the evil girl (who coincidentally looks much like Lisa) escapes. Despite Lisa’s many pleas, the family keeps her locked into the basement, thinking it to be one of their daughter’s ploys. Months pass and eventually Lisa escapes but to her horror finds the evil girl living at her house, with Lisa’s mother mistaking the lass for her own missing daughter. The idea of Lisa being falsely imprisoned haunted me, especially since my family lived in a house with a sprawling basement and a firewood elevator — more than accommodating facilities to jail a troublesome child should my parents see fit.

Thanks Adam! You lucky kids can not only visit Adam regularly at DVD PANACHE but watch the episode of FREDDIE’S NIGHTMARES of which he speaks, in it’s entirety HERE. (Both highly recommended!)

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3 responses so far ↓

There is a Simpsons Treehouse of Horror VII segment from Season 8 called ‘The Thing and I’ which often gets labelled as being a rip-off of Basket Case. I much prefer to think the idea was borrowed from this episode of Freddie’s Nightmares…

I had never seen this before and it’s great. I’m not a fan of the constant “waking up” parts but the rest of the story is awesome. The showdown in the kitchen when she’s pleading with her mother to remember who she is reminds me of Mink Stole in FEMALE TROUBLE. “It’s me Taffy, your long, lost little girl!”

I loved this show when I was a kid. This episode was, hands down, the scariest. The dream sequence where you see the person in the black cloak going up the stairs haunted me for the longest time. Thanks for the post and the links!